Early one morning in mid-January as I stand on the veranda, a certain feeling in the air tells me that this day will be warm—a January thaw is in the offing.
Our home sits tucked into a small hollow between two ridges. The sun rises behind Laurel Ridge, and before we can glimpse it from the house its first rays burnish the treetops of Sapsucker Ridge with a reddish glow. During a January thaw the dawn light is scarlet as it moves down the ridge and across First Field, and I go out to meet it. I sit with my back against a locust tree at the edge of the filed, bathed in warm sunlight, while the house below me is still in shadow. In patches where the snow has melted, the exposed dried grasses are covered with frost crystals shining in the light and adding glitter to an already glorious scene.
—Marcia Bonta Appalachian Spring
I’ve always had an interest in noticing things in nature. I like paying attention to the way the sunshine tracks across the sky differently in summer than it does in winter. One of my favorite things ever is to climb out of a dark holler into the glory of sunshine on a high ridge. Talk about a natural high, that will sure give you one.
Living on the north side of the mountain means the snow and cold hang around longer than down throughout the settlement. I don’t know how many times in the last couple of years Granny and I have talked about the airish chill in the holler as we get into the car only to arrive at her doctors appointment down in Peachtree and remark on how nice and warm it is there.
Today’s Thankful November giveaway is a used copy of Appalachian Spring written by Marcia Bonta. Leave a comment on this post to be entered. *Giveaway ends November 21, 2022.
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Somehow changes in the weather seem to be more noticeable in the mountains. I love it!
In our current home we sit about half way up the east side of a mountain. Coming from Florida, it has taken some adjustment to what this really means. Summer isn’t an issue but fall & winter is another story completely. Between the dense foliage (which thankfully thins with the dropping leaves) and our location, we’ll start to lose the sun around 3pm each day, making for dark(ish) long days.
Of other interest it how much our micro-climate varies. Right now there is frost in the yards and fields below us but we’ll remain frost free for a while longer. The physics of cold air sinking is quite evident for us. There is as much as 5 degrees of difference between the up- and down-slope sides of the house.
Given the density of our tree cover, during the summer we’ll leave the house, not paying too much attention to the time, and suddenly get shocked by all the bright daylight once we reach the bottom of our road. There have been numerous time we been scrambling for the sunglasses by the surprise.
I love Nature. I love to see the beautiful surprises God has created and sometimes tucked away in an unusual place. Like the wood violets, or trees growing through big rocks, or a gurgling stream, or furry creatures that scamper around outside. Yes I love Nature. I love the smell of the woods, early in the mornings when I can inhale that sweet fragrance and imagine that it’s God’s after shave lotion. Yes, I do have a vivid imagination. It includes so many wonderful Natural surprises. I’ll say it again, I love Nature!
Where I live we’re surrounded by huge old trees so it always feels cooler than it actually is out in the open. I’ll leave the house in long sleeves and a jacket and be burnt slap up just a couple miles down the rd once the sun shines through
East Central Illinois is sadly as flat as it gets. I’d love some hills and hollers, but not enough to leave my family, so you learn to love the flat! Corn and beans can be seen for miles and miles. It has its beauty, food for the world!! My favorite part about our area is the solid 4 seasons equally spaced out….3 months of bitter cold we’ll below zero at times, 3 months of sweltering heat and humidity well above 100 at times and the 3 months each of spring and fall warming or cooling into summer and winter, I couldnt live somewhere where all four seasons weren’t available!
It’s strange the terms we use! As a child I grew up in the flatland of SE MO. My uncle lived down the road from us a bit and it was always referred to as he lived “in the bottoms”. I guess because it was closer to a creek and the soil was a little more black. Love reading everything.
Please do not enter me in the drawing. Thanks.
I enjoy reading about this way of life. I also love to listen to my 86 yr d father talk about when he was a boy.
I love how a bunch of descriptive words placed together can transport you to any place and time and make you feel like you’re there. I can’t imagine living anywhere else but in the mountains. 🙂
I love the sparkling of the frost on the grass and watching the snow come down heavy but it takes very little of it to satisfy me anymore then I am ready for spring, I have had enough already for this winter, wasn’t so bad when I was younger and worked in the snow every day.
Sounds like a great book. Love the description of the sun rising over the hills!
We love Tipper and the entire Pressley family! We enjoy reading and listening to your posts and when you read from books about life in Appalachia. We’re in Knoxville and you’re always welcome should you pass this way!
I loved the quotes from Marcia. I also love looking at nature. I am usually driving to the office as the sun is rising and my breath is taken away by the sunlight filtering through the clouds and as the world wakes up for another day. I love studying nature in all her glory. This would be a good book to read.
We saw that Grandfather Mountain and Mt. Mitchell got snow this past week. I suppose if any had showed up in Wilson Holler we’d have heard about it. 🙂
Liked the video of you and the girls!
I live in CA but my family is from Kentucky with relatives and ancestors from Eastern KY – Appalachia. It is Interesting to hear about the remarkable variation of light, temperature, and weather conditions as one moves from home to a settlement – as you call it. In California, where I live now, we speak about microclimates and it sounds like a very similar experience. The “weather” can vary literally from one city block to the next based on orientation, sunshine, temperature, and fog. Start your morning with a chill in the air only to find sunshine while moving about any daily routine. I like your comments about nature and the variety only experienced by being rooted in a place so well that you come to know subtleties only a resident can recognize.
I love everything you read on YouTube. I feel sure that anything you suggest that I read will bring me joy.
Can’t say I’m looking forward to the cold weather but I do enjoy those rare days of sunshine and warmth.
Once again, sounds like another wonderful book. I feel so blessed to live in a place that we get to experience all four seasons! Have a great day everyone!!
Sounds like a good book.
I would love to read this book-I enjoy watching the changing of the seasons.
I’m a new subscriber, just found you last night. Can’t wait to binge on all of the previous posts!
Like you, Tipper, I yearn for the time to just be still and watch the light change from season to season. That’s one of the things I’m praying we receive in eternity: time to just enjoy the Creation.
I notice so many things that others miss. We had been here for at least 6 months before my wife saw the lake across the road. I often point out tracks of other creatures to her. Too many people are in a rush to get somewhere to notice what’s underfoot or over the next rise.
enjoy the posts.
Years ago i noticed that suddenly one day, it may be in February or March, the air feels different. Can’t explain it, it just feels different to the skin even it still chilly. It’s “Spring is in the air. It’s coming”. Then sometime, usually August, the light looks somehow different; again inexplicable; Fall is here. I love Spring and Fall. Can’t say i’m wild about Winter, but it is needed toof
When the air at night in the country starts to turn cold you know it won’t be long till winter sets in. We change our focus to other things besides putting up food, and taking care of the garden. Our focus is now on making sure we have plenty of fire wood, and I sm baking alot. There are many more big breakfasts, and hot drinks. I like you Tipper love all the seasons. I have many memories in my mind that are precious to me, many of which are from that time when the seasons change. I love the newness, and excitement of the changing seasons.
A chilly but sunny day here in the Florida piney woods; although, we have no hills or hollers, it is still enjoyable as beautiful rays of sunshine peek through the trees behind the house. In this rural community, we still enjoy the many sights and sounds of nature as we go about our day. It will be busy; as unlikely as it sounds, we have hay on the ground as we try to get our last measure of production. The yield will be some smaller, no doubt; but we will be thankful and grateful for this last cutting. Am sure the cattle egrets and even a turkey or two will enjoy today’s teddering as we continue to get ready to bale.
Such lovely descriptions of winter. It rarely snows where I live, but we did get snow on Christmas day once. That Christmas provided lots of a different kind of fun like building snowmen.
I enjoyed the description of our mountains from Appalachian Spring so much, and it brought back such wonderful memories of my own childhood growing up in the Appalachian mountains. And the comments were equally enjoyable … great descriptions! I think I see some writers on this blog! I think it stirred memories in all of us that had the privilege of growing up in Appalachia. How incredibly blessed we were! Thank you, Tipper, for your wonderful blog that keeps those memories alive.
I love how every season has its own set of colors and I look forward to all of them. Christmas is fast approaching, my favorite time of year everyone seems a little happier, smiles a little more and Christmas lights just make me happy .
Nature, no matter where one lives, shows us God’s beautiful creation in all His glory every day. We just need to be still and see it and experience God in it.
Hello Tipper!
It’s airish in southeast Tennessee this morning! I heard on the weather report last night that we’re getting January cold in November. I agree! We normally hang our Christmas lights outside a few days before Thanksgiving–most of the time in our shirt sleeves! Not this year! Hope you and your lovely family have a good day today!
I am really a nature lover. I loved to notice different things about nature that nobody else seemed to even think about. Once when I hauled things to the landfill, I noticed this little volunteer tomato plant struggling to survive under the first step where you go up to pay the cashier. I would have dug it, but a waiting line was behind me. i could also take note that some autumns were more colorful depending on the weather.
Unfortunately, talk about the economy had replaced the weather talk that was once the main topic of conversation when one ran across an acquaintance. I still love the “come and see me” that is sometimes thrown in. It’s the Appalachian way!
I love the way the comments are laid out now. It seems Tipper’s blog is taking on a very professional look. 🙂
Marsha Bonta’s description is musical – with quiet excitement she guides her reader through every sensation of her walk; so much so that I almost felt I might notice something & bring it to her attention. I would love to read more.
Did not know of this book nor author. I am always interested in reading about Appalachia and especially if written by someone who lives there.
The hills and mountains do make for some dark hollers. And they make for frost pockets and long-lingering snows. Makes a body want the sunlight and be glad when the sun starts back north. We’ve got just over a month until the shortest day. We’ve near ’bout lost morning sun through the windows. This house is – as most are – aligned with the road and not the sun, mores the pity.
This reminds me of going home to my grandparent’s homeplace. I love descriptions of the view and feelings it creates! It brings warmth to my heart and yet I feel melancholy at the same time. Thank you for always stirring our souls to the familiar things of our beloved Appalachia!!
It’s hard for me to see this glory of a sunrise since here in Michigan we’ve had our first snowstorm. I woke to a sparkling, glittery winter wonderland.
These descriptions are so lovely to embrace. My heart overflows with gratitude for your sharing with us the beauty & your love of Appalachia.
Love the poem! Have you ever heard of the song” Dark Holler”. I like the bluegrass version of it
Love the adjective “airish”. It’s another word I’ve learned since moving to the mountains of East Tennessee.
Nature holds many wonders if we only take the time to watch. And listen. No hollers here but I believe y’all about them being colder all day long.
I would love to read this book! Enjoyed you and the girls yesterday. Take care and God bless ❣️
I have direct southern exposure and from November until May I get wind whipping off the mountain top (it’s bald due to a scenic overlook.) That allows no buffer of anything really between the elements and me… Brrrr it’s a crusty frozen snow ( although light and powdery) this morning. I went to feed my birds and a few cats already. Gotta track it to the cat colony I feed around the corner of 13. Every day I feed 22 cats, my dog, and the birds. I’d have it no other way cause helping critters gives my life meaning and they won’t bite the hand that feeds them like humans I’ve attempted to rescue. I am cutting down in that area… lol
We too live in a hollar that always takes longer to warm up in the spring. The snow tends to hang around longer on the roofs and on the ground. I enjoy watching nature and the different changes of the season as it takes place throughout the year. Even though we are in a housing addition, the houses are spaced far enough apart since most of us have more than an acre of ground, and we are in the country outside of the city. We have lots of animals we get to see and enjoy. The high hills and hollars of Indiana can reflect the mountains, in a way, of North Carolina.
Warm days in the middle of winter do feel good but not so many in a row that the meat would spoil. I just looked at the 7 day weather forecast for my area of SC and it is going to be cold enough at night to be hog killing time! I remember when we killed our hog, my daddy or granddaddy saying it’s cold enough for the meat to take the salt but not freeze until it does. The hams, shoulders, fatback, etc were put in a large thick sided wooden box with a lid and covered in salt and left in it for several months. The ham and shoulder meat would be so salty I could hardly eat it when I was a child. The box was in a small outside building. I have many good memories of the good times of the past. They would kill sometime near Thanksgiving.
Did any of you ever cut off a small piece of the dark red raw ham meat near the bone and eat it after it had been salt cured?
My Mama said her Mama (my Nanny) would pack a fresh ham in salt in a wooden box and corn it for Christmas. Hog killing time reminds me of the that scene in Fried Green Tomatoes when they butchered a hog and disposed of Frank Bennett.
The box I am referring to was somewhere around 4 ft wide, 6 ft long and 3-4 ft high. The meat from two 500 lb hogs would easily fit in the box and be covered with salt bought in 50 lb bags. This was the method used to preserve the meat. I don’t know the exact amount of salt used but I would guess @ 150 lbs or more. After all of the meat had been taken out of the salt, the salt would be used during the summer in ice cream churns and given to the mule or cows.
I reread my comment and my first sentence does not make much sense. What I was trying to say was a warm day in the winter is and was always welcome but when the meat from the hog was cured like I mentioned you did not want a lot of these warm days in row because the meat would begin to thaw out and spoil. With the change in today’s weather, you can no longer keep meat like that now. Back when I was growing up it would turn cold about this time of year and stay cold until close to spring time.
I have always lived in the city, but love country places and the air.
I look forward to reading your blog each morning. Warm days in winter are something to look forward to. Happy Thanksgiving.
Winter is here in Ct. The morning temperature of 29 degrees confirm it. I am not fond of the cold and snow. A bright spot in this time of year is the way the sun shines in the windows and make rainbows everywhere when it shines on the 3 prisms I received as gift from my niece. In the summer months the sunshines in differently. Welcome rainbows, you make my day brighter.
I am a student of nature. At 78 years of age and being a farm boy I watch many things about it including the track of the sun. Here in North Alabama the annual migration of the Robins is underway and I’ll look forward to their return flight come Spring, if I live. I seldom comment be I truly enjoy reading your blog.
And yet another interesting read. You never disappoint me and of course I share with the rest of the family. I do miss living in the Blue Ridge area and only left to be closer to good Doctors if I need them…getting old is NOT fun at all. I get my daily fix through you and your family. God Bless.
Nature has so many personalities! Some can be down right frightening but the majority are such a pleasure to behold. God and nature keep me grounded.
I have never heard of this book, but it sounds like one I would like to read. It’s so very descriptive. Growing up in a holler in Southeastern Kentucky, I have experienced many mornings like this.
I live in the Piedmont area of NC, and have always been drawn to our western mountains instead of the eastern coast. Living in the mountains has always been my dream.
I feel the chill in the air as my skin reacts with goosebumps, my eyes dart from cold shadows to promising sunlight. Your words have taken me back to those days when this was my reality. Oh, the power of words… Thanks Tipper.
I, too, am a student of nature and get a thrill watching the early light ignite the hundreds of trees behind my house with golden to reddish glow depending on the season. Your writing stirs the many memories I have of watching my Grandmother cook and garden as I chose to follow in her footsteps as a woman of faith, and a love of cooking and gardening. Thank you, Tipper, for keeping the old ways, sayin’s and recipes alive as technology seems to rob us of nature’s many blessings. Wishin you all have a very happy Thanksgiving!
Winter has started here! Lake Michigan is cooling again and we really got snow last night. I was drive quite a ways to play Mah Jongg this afternoon, but I am rethinking that!
We don’t call this God’s Country for nothing! It is beautiful here every day of the year…even when there’d bad weather. Our mountains hold us in her arms. Rain, snow, hot, cold, sunshine, or rainy, we can look around and see the mountains cradling us in her arms!
Sounds like another well written descriptive read to be enjoyed when the winter winds and snow are upon us and all we want is spring to show its face.